Pachelbel's Canon

"The cello part in Pachelbel's canon is the most boring part ever written. It's 8 quarter notes repeated... 54 times - I counted, because I had nothing else to do... [note: Paravonian's count is exaggerated] I hated this piece. The violins got lovely melodies. The second violins got lovely melodies. The violas got lovely melodies, which should never happen. The cellists, we got eight notes. And if you ever wonder why, I think I've figured it out. I think Pachelbel must have dated a cellist, and she dissed him really bad. And so he just gave the cellists the worst parts he could ever think of. And you know, I wouldn't be bitter about it, except the man is following me. He's been dead for like 300 years but he's popping up everywhere."

- Rob Paravonian

anniversary

omg. i didn't even realise it (probably was mourning the theft of my PDA at that time) but my blog is >1 year old! omg. thats pretty 1337. my first ever post was on 4/8/4 (how nicely palindromic). yay.

had an interesting experience on thurs: i was doing my 理解问答(chinese compre thingy, for those of you whose excuses for browsers can't display chinese). this was something like 1 am or so. not very late, but quite late for me... my latest is usually before midnight. anyway i'd stopped thinking since 10pm and started writing with my eyes closed at 12. so i was trying to answer question 4 with my eyes closed. i completely didn't know and didn't care about what i was writing. so i doodled some crap and was about to switch off completely when i though i might like to see what i'd written. this was it:

因为学source will find me (linebreak) i can't rad

=)

RISE EXCO '05-'06 Elections

hey all,

congratulations to remus kevin shawn and dark-horse candidate timothy for landing a spot in the EXCO next year! it was great to see pple voting responsibly and all, and its also good to see that next year's exco has pretty strong support. i shouldn't reveal figures but i believe they'll/you'll be able to unite RISE and all. good stuff. all the best!

special congratulations to remus and kevin, definitely. i believe remus has the confidence of the ensemble as a whole, even though he didn't get all the votes. kevin has surprised me again and again - excellent character with great sense of humour even though it doesn't always come through. you can definitely surpass the outgoing exco :P.

as for the other candidates, special mention must go to dominic. most didn't really expect or want to get voted in, but i must say dominic really tried very hard. he did well in Q&As too when others couldn't answer even moderately difficult questions, and its clear that he has the ability and the intelligence to lead. i guess its fine to feel disappointed, but don't let it get in the way. you still can contribute, whether you're in the exco or not. hey, i was (in a manner of speaking) in the same situation too last year. my advice to all of you - continue to contribute, and don't let this dishearten you.

once again, all the best to RISE 2005-6!

The School for Scandal

A school for Scandal! tell me, I beseech you,
Needs there a school this modish art to teach you?
No need of lessons now, the knowing think;
We might as well be taught to eat and drink.
Caused by a dearth of scandal, should the vapours
Distress our fair ones--let them read the papers;
Their powerful mixtures such disorders hit;
Crave what you will--there's quantum sufficit.

- Richard Brinsley Sheridan

National Day

It's National Day again. A day when the vast majority of Singaporeans are either glued to their TVs or their seats at the Padang or National Stadium or wherever the parade's at. They've always had a parade on National Day. About 200 vehicles owned by MINDEF and MHA have just been dragged across St. Andrew's Road, the road in front of the old City Hall building. (I wrote this at 7:40, and then went afk till 9:30)

National Day Parades in Singapore are remarkably odd. You probably won't find anything like them anywhere else in the world. After the usual marching men and women and trucks going incredibly slowly, we have something which can only be described as a variety show. A specially-chosen Singaporean singer belts out some offensive new national day song and lots of people dance behind her (it's usually a her). While they do that the thousands of people watching the show at the venue invariably wave torchlights or lightsticks for no apparent reason.

NDPs are odd things. An odd parade for an odd nation.

All the same: Happy National Day.